


A Day on the Lake

by agendernightmare



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Davekat as a Plot Device, Fishing, Gen, Just A Fun Fishing Trip :), Meat Timeline Adjacent, Needless Exposition on Earth C Music Subgenres, Original Female Character - Freeform, They Go To Earth C Dennys At Some Point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 09:08:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23848723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agendernightmare/pseuds/agendernightmare
Summary: What better way to bond with your stepbrother/stepuncle than a fantastic day of fishing and fun?
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Jake English & Dave Strider, Jake English/Dirk Strider
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	A Day on the Lake

Dave nodded his head to the beat as the sound of his celebration set replayed through the living room’s sound system. The wedding was long over, and by all metrics a success, if the tabloids were to be believed. Just about everyone showed up, attendees from all four kingdoms, rulers included, all were poised to both celebrate at the largest party of the century and congratulate the couple with the most star power on all of Earth C. (His friends were more there to celebrate the latter, but everyone else seemed happy, at least.) No other gathering had attracted quite so much buzz at even the barest hint dropped by Dirk and Jake. Yet, Dirk had still picked him, out of any other DJ in the world, to handle the music. He frowned as his hands idly traced the grooves of the records on his turntable, the sensation helping keep him focused. Of course he accepted, even with the thought that he might ruin what was meant to be the happiest moment of his ectobro’s life, he still held onto the pride that the surname Strider instilled in him. It had to be him manning the booth at that wedding, no matter how violently nauseous he felt when he stood up there. 

Yet, for all of his anxiety, when he started his set and the speakers started booming, everything else melted away but the music, and the crowd, and they _loved_ it. He had only recently gotten into Earth C’s music scene, because when even June knows more obscure bands than Dave does, he has to put his foot down. Initial attempts at music from Earth C’s inhabitants were rather lackluster, mostly inspired by what their progenitor cultures considered popular enough to have been carried through the Veil. But, the recent de-escalation of tensions between the kingdoms had led to more cultural mixing, with the creation of subgenres such as march metal and discordcore as a result. Not all of it was your taste but, you got a feel for what made people dance and what made people mosh and that was enough. Even Sollux Captor cut loose for once, something that Karkat later assured Dave was “less likely than Troll Von Trier putting something out remotely intelligent”. Thinking about his turn of phrase brought a smile to his face, even more so when Karkat walked into the living room, cup of coffee in his hand. 

“Hey dumbass, you’ve been listening to that for three hours, you need a break before my head splits open and a being made from pure rage springs from my head and beats you to death.” Karkat’s sneer is unmistakable, but when Dave lifts a hand from his records and strokes his cheek, it’s replaced immediately by dreamy calm. Karkat had only recently started letting him do things he considered “cross-quadrant”, and while Dave wasn’t sure if he could do it at first, the way the shorter guy nuzzles into his palm when Dave touches his face gives him an emotional payoff he can’t get anywhere else. That and the pitch sex is kinda hot.

“Someone’s been listening to Rose’s mythology podcast again. What, gonna start calling me your brother and request we have our ashes buried together when we tragically die to gangrene after some fucker in a phalanx gets lucky and nicks us in the shoulder?” Karkat’s response is a half-hearted “fuck you”, but he’s smiling slightly and when Dave tries to pull his hand away he holds it there. “Besides, I can’t go to bed just yet, I have things to do, gotta relisten to this set just a couple more times, gotta see if you can’t pop more than one of those anger spawn out of your head, I wanna try for triplets babe.” 

A weary sigh is what he gets in response, and Karkat pulls himself back into a standing position. “Look, your set was great! I didn’t see a single person not fucking shitting their pants over the fact that not only was Dave Strider, Knight of Time himself, DJing, but he was also playing and mixing music _they actually loved_.” Karkat rolled his eyes, taking another small sip of his coffee. “I actually saw one of the troll attendees cry when you put on their music. Like, literal actual tears Dave, you don’t make that happen easily.” A few memories of the times the two of them had watched I Am Legend while Karkat sobbed uncontrollably in his arms came to mind, but he put them aside. “I know you want to spend all night agonizing over every minor mistake you made, but my therapist won’t let me do that anymore, so you can’t either.” Dave opens his mouth to retort, but is interrupted by the sudden sound of his phone buzzing. He checks the screen, and is surprised to find Jake English’s name staring back at him. Not an unpleasant surprise, dude was apparently enough of a catch to even turn Dirk’s head, but still a surprise. Their only real conversation had happened during the reception, when you shared a few awkward words over Crocker-branded deli meat and sliced cheese. In fact, you kind of assumed that he and Dirk would be spending their newfound time of newlyweds mostly together. Not that you mind of course, a guy knows when to keep his distance. He looks up at Karkat, who gives him a single nod, and answers the phone.

DAVE: sup, you got strider beta.

JAKE: Oh! Jolly good, I was hoping you’d pick up Dave, it’s me! Your stepbrother! Or rather, stepuncle? Hells bells, this is all bloody confusing. It’s Jake, is what I mean.

DAVE: wait, it's jake? damn english i could not tell,  
DAVE: i swear, i am just constantly getting called up by beautifully sculpted bears who insist in speaking like a caricature of a culture that died like ages ago.

JAKE: That classic Strider humor! My my, I swear if there’s one thing that I don’t love more in the world than a bit of friendly verbal spar with one Strider, now it can be visited upon me twofold!

DAVE: yeah no problem dude. you want the two for one strider special on beatdowns? turns out there's separate discounts for newlyweds and family, so you’re golden

DAVE: anyway uh, what’s up. Why are you calling me at like eleven pm.

JAKE: Is it really? I confess, I haven’t been quite myself this evening, just a bit of the post-tying-the-knot jitters I should say! But before I lose where I was going with this, I wanted to ask you on a bit of a wilderness outing!  


DAVE: wait like, you want to like, go hiking with me through the mountains or some shit. like lighting a campfire and singing songs about togetherness under the moonlight type of deal?

JAKE: Dave, if that just doesn’t sound like a ripsnorter of a good time on it’s own! *Clears throat* But no, not yet. I was hoping to ask you to join me for a spot of fishing, actually! The shoreline was far too dangerous for me on my own island, and well. I just wouldn’t be much of an outdoorsman if I didn’t try it at least once, damn it! Plus, what kind of stepuncle would I be if I didn’t at least try to take my husband’s brother out for some good old-fashioned family bonding?

A pretty decent one who doesn’t drag Dave out on what sounds like a total nightmare of a day, if he wants to be totally honest, but the way Karkat is looking at him is making him feel like he should accept. He has to admit that it doesn’t sound like, too awful, anyways. He can take another one for the Strider family if it means making his new relative feel a little less weird about him. 

DAVE: alright sure, i’ll bite.

DAVE: and look at that, unintentional fishing pun, i’m already a fucking master at this shit. i’m sure i’ll fucking wow and amaze you when we’re actually out on the water and i pull out the extensive nautical pun catalog my brain subconsciously generated.

JAKE: Capital! By the way, don’t worry a single hair on that head about the gear, m’boy! I’ve taken the liberty of purchasing everything we’ll need in advance. I’ll pick you up in the morning, and we can grab a hearty breakfast on the way up to the lake, just make sure you get some proper rest so you’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!

DAVE: got it. seems like you uh, went above and beyond planning this shit for something that was spur of the moment, but that’s alright.

DAVE: see you tomorrow morning dude, if you could bring coffee too that’d be great.

JAKE: See you then, Mr. Strider!

The call ends, and instead of the creeping sense of dread you expected, you just feel warm, in a good way. Did Jake’s powers work over the phone? The more he thought about it, the more that this sounded like a good idea. Like, yeah, hell yeah! He’ll fucking destroy this opportunity to bro it up with his brother’s husband. By the time they’re off that lake, they’ll probably like, have an entire arsenal of inside jokes and memes to reference at every family gathering. He gets along with Jade well, right? Her grandpa couldn’t be much different. “So, going fishing with Jake tomorrow morning, guess I really should uh. Get to bed, like you said.”

Karkat rolled his eyes, and started walking back to their bedroom. “Well? What the fuck are you waiting for? Come on, if you beg I might cuddle you before I start working.” 

“Wow babe, if you didn’t say the exact same thing every time I’m headed for bed and still end up napping on me, I’d say you actually put some bite behind that, maybe you should try and be the big spoon this time? You gotta keep a motherfucker on his toes, after all..” The verbal jabs start to taper off when they hit the mattress, and it isn’t long before Dave is out cold, with Karkat resting his head on his chest.

  
  
  
  


A knock at the door wakes Dave up, and he’s on his feet and dressed in seconds. Who the hell needs him at 4 AM? Karkat looks up from the bed groggily, and Dave shrugs his shoulders. “No idea, I’ll see what’s up. You should start work though, it’s early.” His boyfriend curses under his breath, and downs what remains of the coffee he placed on the nightstand before making a face and getting to his feet. The knocking hasn’t stopped in the meantime, with a cadence that Dave swears almost sounds… Jolly? Wait, it couldn’t possibly be-

“David! My good man!” It is. When he opens the door, there is Jake English, in all of his radiance. Quite literally, he appears to be glowing. The effect is somewhat lessened though by the fact that he’s wearing a bucket hat pierced with lures, a bright orange bib, and equally fluorescent waders. “Here! Have a coffee, can’t have you falling asleep before we even begin the trip!” A mug of steaming hot coffee gets pushed into Dave’s hands, and he can’t help but be thankful that his shades are hiding his surprise.

“You’re uh, here early,” Is what he manages to say after a short pause. He gulps down the hot coffee, desperate for the caffeine to make him snappier. Jake seems unaffected by the dour mood Dave appears to be in though, and plows forward.

“Hardly early at all when fishing is involved! The scaled beasts are creatures of habit, and I daresay that unfortunately, they tend to be the most chipper in the wee hours of the morning!” Jake slaps Dave on the shoulder with a level of force that nearly causes him to drop the mug of coffee, which would have been a shame, because he can barely keep up with this man as is. “Now come on! Say farewell to your husband for the day, because these two strapping lads,” he gestures between the two of them, “have a date with a fair maiden named Crescent Lake!”

Dave turns his head, hoping to seek out Karkat for some kind of reprieve from the force of nature that is Jake English, and comes face to face with his boyfriend, much more awake and seemingly stunned into silence by Jake’s appearance. “Oh uh, hey Karkat. Jake and I are heading out to go sit in a boat for like six hours, you good?”

Karkat looks between Dave and Jake, his gaze lingering on the latter. All it takes is for his face to break out into a wicked grin before Dave knows that he’s totally fucked. “Oh, I’m _excellent_. Be sure to have fun you two! And take lots of pictures for me so I don’t feel as bad that I missed your human relative bonding day!” Dave tries to respond, but is once again cut off when Jake comes up from behind and slaps him loudly on the back.

“But of course Mr. Vantas! It’s quite funny you bring it up actually, as I seem to have had just the same idea as you!” A quick search through Jake’s backpack ensues, and he proudly holds out several disposable cameras. “Can’t risk getting the good ones wet, you understand. I’m rich as all get out, but it just felt all the more appropriate! Come along now Strider, those fish won’t hook themselves!” Jake heads back for what you now notice is his truck, carrying several fishing rods and a large cooler in the trunk. 

“Text me if it gets too awful, I want to enjoy every moment of it.” Dave rolls his eyes, lowering his shades so Karkat can see it, and they kiss. It’s a lot more heated than usual, and Dave can’t help but notice how much sharper troll teeth are than human teeth. They break apart after a few moments, and when Dave turns to Jake, he seems to be looking very conspicuously at everything else but the two of them.

“Alright English, we’re on. Let’s bounce.” Jake gives a wide smile in response, and unlocks his car doors, before cheerfully ushering Dave inside. The interior smells remarkably clean. A quick look around and sees that other than a set of gear matching what Jake is wearing (fuck), there wasn’t much else. Dave maybe goes a bit in on personalization, sure, but he expected at least one thing to fixate on. There isn’t even a CD organizer, which reminds him… “Wait, do you have an aux cord?”

“Nope!” came the cheery response, and when Jake hit the power for the radio and tinny Consort pop music came on, he’d never regretted a decision faster.


End file.
